The Friday Informer: Reich (Not That One), Sonic Lasers (Non-Lethal), and Bass Clarinets (Record Breaking)
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- Meet Ezra Reich. Influenced more by ’80s pop than dad, his band includes a guy named Elliot Glass, and it just gets weirder from there.
- Like politics and religion, you’ll probably never persuade composers to change their minds about the merits of academic training. Still, if your boss isn’t looking over your shoulder this afternoon, I dare you to resist wading into the Sequenza21 “teaching composition is a waste of time” debate.
- On the tech front, someone needs to tell La Monte Young about this little gizmo and Phil Kline might be moved to leave the boombox behind now that he can do this with an iPod. And while we’re at it, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have figured out how to transcribe typing based on the sounds of fingers hitting keys. What might the spacialists in the crowd find to do with that?
- Billed by the NYTimes as a classical version of “a digital and high-toned version of the calendars often found in auto repair shops,” this site really just highlights women who work in the classical field. Don’t get too excited. No one is wearing a mesh bikini here, folks.
- Get that bass clarinet out from under the bed. The World Bass Clarinet Convention meets in Rotterdam Oct. 21-23. Attempting a Guinness Book of World Records-worthy event, planned activities include a performance by what is hoped will be the world’s largest bass clarinet choir (100+) playing a new composition by Brit Paul Harvey.